This invention relates generally to the making of a stubless multi-ply assembly, and more particularly to the making of such an assembly of the type which includes superimposed top, intermediate and bottom plies with the top and bottom plies removably interconnected, and the intermediate and bottom plies removably interconnected.
Business forms arranged as interconnected unitary sets of multiple sheets or plies are available in various forms constructions and adapted for inscription either manually or with the use of a typewriter. The most common of these unit sets is one having a removable stub portion for interconnecting the sheets of the set together. The sheets may therefore be separated as the stub is removed, or individual sheets may be removed from the stub while leaving the remaining sheets of the set intact. Typically, such a set comprises a top record ply which is removed from the set for record keeping while the balance of the plies remain intact after which they are subsequently separated. This stub however represents a completely unusable portion of the form since it is ultimately discarded after removal. Any writing or printing on the form sheets must therefore be confined to areas outside the stub thereby resulting either in the need for larger sheets or a smaller printing and writing area. Hence, this wasteful stub accounts for a poor economical use of the set. Moreover, the sheets of the assembly are normally interconnected at the stub by glue lines axially aligned between the top and bottom sheets thereby adding to the thickness or bulk of the assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,949,625 to Ritzhaupt discloses a forms construction which minimizes the thickness of the assembly at the forward end by means of attaching the sheets together by a single line of adhesive passing through axially aligned apertures provided in several of the sheets. However, a removable stub is nevertheless required for such assembly since it is so constructed that the sheets cannot be removed unless separated along the stub. All the drawbacks noted for the typical forms construction requiring a removable stub are therefore common to this prior art construction.